Accord Group Annual Report 2012

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The

Annual Report 2012

Accord Group Annual Report 20122 Accord Group

Annual Report 2012 3

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thinking

Contents1 Welcome from the Chairman Page 4

2 Foreword from the Chief Executive Page 6

3 How we grow big and small opportunities Page 8

4 Big opportunity Page 10

5 Opportunity to grow Page 12

6 Growing opportunity Page 14

7 Our people Page 16

8 A big future Page 18

9 Key success stories in 2011 Page 20

10 Accordfactsandfigures Page30

and little differences



Welcome from the Chairman

Over the last 12 months, the Accord Group has made significant progress on its five-year journey by creating both big and small

opportunities, enriching the lives of our customers and improving the communities where they live.

Thisyearwehavecreatedmorethan30jobsforlocalpeoplethrough the opening of our award winning LoCaL Homes factory in Walsall, which is producing low carbon, timber frame homes and as a Group have more than doubled in size through acquiring domiciliary care company, Direct Health.

We have an excellent reputation locally, regionally and nationally, particularly for our work in health and social care around dementia and for our housing and innovative ways of working.

Our aim is provide the people we serve with real choice and to deliver the type of services they want. We have listened to our customers through increased local engagement and have worked with them to develop both the big and small opportunities.

Whilst the housing sector is undergoing some fundamental changes to its operating environment, the future for the Accord Group is bright. Our successful bid to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has seen us awarded £14 million tobuild673homesforrentandsharedownershipaswellasnumber of homes for sale.

Inaddition,aspartofawider£30milliongrantallocationawarded to the Matrix Housing Partnership, an additional 1,500 homes across the West Midlands will be built. Many of these homes will be low carbon, timber frame homes, built at our own local factory.

Today the Accord Group employs more than 4,200 and is a majoremployerintheMidlandsanditisthefinancialstrengthand capacity of the Accord Group which allows us to be able to provide much needed new housing and services, including support to social enterprises.

Everyone who works for the Accord Group is committed to delivering the best services they can and it is this dedication which helps us create the big and the small opportunities for our customers.

The Group Board of Management oversees the governance of the Group, working closely with the Boards and Committees of the organisations which form the Group and I would like thank them and recognise each of them for the fantastic contribution they make.

On behalf of the Board I also wish to thank the Group Chief Executive and his teams for their continuing hard work and dedication over the year and I look forward to creating more opportunities together.

Akshay Parikh Group Chair

Our aim is provide the people we serve with real choice and to deliver the type of services they want. Everyone who works for the Accord Group is committed to delivering the best services they can and it is this dedication which help us create the big and the small opportunities for our customers.



Foreword

Accord is passionately committed to meeting the housing, health and support needs of its customers and the wider communities

in which it works. We are investing significant funding into creating pathways into work, through job creation, training and enterprise support which demonstrates our commitment at a time in this prolonged recession which our customers well-being and livelihoods are seriously threatened.

We’re addressing these challenges in innovative and progressive ways. Our factory producing timber modular homes has really taken off. We manufacture one house per day and erect one house per day on site. We have the capacity to move our production levels up to three shifts, manufacturing three homes per day. This whole initiative has meant we now build super-insulated homes which have very low energy requirements and low carbon emissions and as such are cheap torunforourresidents.Inaddition,wehavecreatedvitaljobsin the factory, on the construction site and in the supply chain. Wehavetargetedthesejobsandasaresultwehaverecruitedpeople from the local area including our customers. This was a deliberate policy.

And we’ve been innovative in purchasing a high quality domiciliary care provider to become a member of our group of organisations. Direct Health is proving to be a great partner, delivering quality care so that people can live independently in their own homes. It is a big employer and its staff turnover andexpansionplansmeanswewillfilloveraperiodofthenextthreetofouryearssome2,000jobs.Againwecantargettherecruitmentprocesstobenefitthecommunitiesweserve.With a private sector company as part of the Group it makes astrongprofitandthatprofitwillbecovenantedtoAccordwhich is a charity, so that it can be ploughed back into our core purpose of meeting housing, health and care needs.

We have a substantial building programme over the next three years. Along with our Matrix partners – Trident, Rooftop, Trent and Dove, WATMOS – we will complete more than 2,000 homes meeting the growing housing need in the wider Midlands. At a time when people cannot get housed and house buildingisataparticularlylowlevel,weareusingourfinancialstrength and resources to ensure much needed new homes are built. And as can be seen from the factory we are building homes which people can afford to run at a time when energy costs have literally gone through the roof.

Atatimeofchallengeforourcustomers,withbenefitreformmeaning for many of them their income levels will be cut, we must be more effective at providing support, guidance and opportunity. We have recently reorganised our front line servicessowecanbetterdeliverthisobjective.Wehavemorestaffnowengagedinwelfareadvice,supportforjobs,trainingand enterprise opportunities.

Our AddVentures initiative, headed by the indefatigable Jas Bains is spearheading our work in this respect. We’ve already created and support a number of jobs and apprenticeships, support people into training and setting up their own businesses.

A worry for business start-ups is the low level of consumer demand – fuelled by the economic downturn, but also low levelsofconfidenceamongstconsumers.Itisanissuethatdesperately needs to be addressed by policy makers. We are making our contribution, doing what we can to create big and small opportunities to stimulate local economies, using our purchasing power where we can. I earnestly believe we have to act as a force for good and do more where we can in thesedifficultcircumstances,butweneedthisscaledupbyGovernment whether it is local or national.

Many thanks for the leadership shown by our Group Board and other people on the Boards across the Group. My thanks to the senior team here who constantly inspire me with their skill and ambition.

My thanks also to all our staff for their incredibly hard work, high standards and unstinting commitment in putting our customers first! And above all to all of our tenants and customers who play such an important role in improving and driving forward the work of the Group so we can create big and small opportunities.

Dr Chris Handy, OBE Group Chief Executive

At a time when people cannot get housed and house building is at a particularly low level, we are using our financial strength and resources to ensure much needed new homes are built.



How we grow big and small opportunities

Over the last year we have enhanced this engagement and involvement with our residents through the introduction of the ResidentInspectorProject.TheResidentInspectorProjecthasadedicatedprojectofficerwhichputsresidentsfirmlyin the driving seat as they review our services and challenge performance. This approach helps develop residents’ skills, as they take on a greater scrutiny role in inspecting our work and holding us to account.

We have also targeted under-represented groups of residents such as young people to take part. To achieve this we are making use of a new piece of software, which will enable us to track the involvement of all residents and assess the impact more effectively.

In addition to this, a Group Customer Scrutiny Panel has been introduced. This is an important part of the revised governance structure and will ensure residents are working in partnership withtheBoardsaswellasinfluencingimportantdecisionsabout the business.

At the Accord Group we also actively encourage our colleagues to work closely with our customers. Team members fromacrosstheGroupsupportedthefirstGroupEstatesWeekwhich saw more than 70 staff take part in painting fences, gardening and general DIY.

In 2011, as part of our work in the community, we embarked on ajourneytosupportsocialentrepreneurshipacrosstheWestMidlands using a model adapted from the Tides Foundation in the United States. AddVentures was launched in the summer of 2011 and has already established its RiSE (Residents in Social Enterprise) programme. A programme which seeks to enable residents and service users that want to make a big difference in their community to set up local community enterprises byprovidingarangeofsupportfunctionssuchas;officespace, marketing and communications, access to start-up capital, business development, a business mentoring service and access to peer networks. RiSE has received a positive response from tenants in particular, and two of our residents have already accessed the programme along with external funding to establish their social ventures.

Withgrowingyouthunemploymentfigures,thedangerofincreased childhood poverty and the threat to youth services owing to local authority budget constraints, the Accord Group is all too aware of the loss of opportunity for a whole generation and the growing disaffection of many young people. In direct response to this, along with AddVentures, we have set up the ‘A Fund’. This Youth Investment Fund is aimed at supporting and cultivating youth entrepreneurship andislookingtoraise£10millionoverthenextfiveyears.The fund has been created as a way of engendering a new approach to unlocking young people’s capabilities -particularlyinBirmingham,theyoungestofallmajorEuropean cities. A number of workshops and events have been delivered across the City in partnership with UnLtd to begin engaging young people around enterprise ideas and opportunities and the response from young people has been overwhelming.

This work is all part of making sure we shape our neighbourhoods the way our customers want them.

Our enduring ambition is to build communities which our customers want to live in. To do this we generate income

and surpluses, drive efficiencies and forge strong relationships.

We improve life chances by creating opportunities through educational, training and employment, as well as tackling disadvantagessuchasfinancialinclusion.Welistentoourcustomers in shaping the homes and services we provide.

From our co-operatives within bchs and Redditch Co-operative Homes, where resident leadership sees people run their own neighbourhoods, to striving to help the most vulnerable in ourcommunityleadindependentandfulfillinglives,wearepassionate about our work.

Our success is founded on an ethos of collaboration, built around a culture where innovation, new ideas sharing is fundamental to the way we operate.

An example of this is where we are proactively tackling the Green Agenda through the development of sustainable, low carbon timber frame homes. In 2011, the Group made history, whenitbecamethefirsthousingassociationinthecountryto open its own factory producing these types of homes in collaboration with Walsall Council. And in 2012 was recognised for its work at the Housing Heroes Awards after scooping the award in the category for Development Team of the Year.

We are also focused on growing our health and social care business and have acquired private domiciliary care company Direct Health, which has seen us double our care turnover from £30milliontoover£60million.Thismeanswecanprovidemore services to people within their own homes as we have afirmunderstandingofthechallengingandchanginghealthagenda.

At the Accord Group, we have been exploring a range of issues impacting on older people, especially as changes to the Welfare Reform Act come into effect and have grown our health and well-being services to cater for their needs. Joint working with Age UK Walsall means we are able to provide help at home services and we have set up dedicated lunch clubs for those who are able to attend, offering nutritious meals and advice on how to cook them. We have also been hosting ‘silver surfer’ workshops with our customers, teaching them how to use the internet.

Our work does not stop there. We are also a leader in the field of dementia and have set up six dementia cafes across the Black Country, offering support to people with the illness and their families to get together in a social setting and will shortly be opening six more.

Weprovidesafehavensforpeoplefleeingdomesticabuseandhelpvictimsfindnewhomes,schools,jobsortrainingandhavebeen recognised nationally for this work.

Peoplewhoareleavingthecriminaljusticesystemarealsosupported by the Accord Group and last year we received Europeanfundingforourvisionaryworkinthisfield.

All of these services are shaped by our customers and a Group-wide resident panel who oversee the work of the individual organisation’s resident panels who each closely scrutinise our work.

Our new customer support service RiSE, has seen residents take small steps to make

to their lives.

a big difference



opportunity

W hilst the housing sector is undergoing some fundamental changes to its operating environment, the future for the

Accord Group is bright.

Following our successful bid submission to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), we have a strong development programme which will see us invest £87.8 million into the communities we serve over the next three years. One example of this is where we will be developing a £27 million scheme in partnership with Wates Living Space to build 200 new homes on the site of the former Guest Hospital in Dudley. The development will retain many of the hospital’s existing features and buildings and will transform the historic site in Tipton.

In addition, as part of a wider £30 million grant allocation awarded to the Matrix Housing Partnership, which Accord leads, an additional 1,500 homes across the West Midlands will be built. These homes are being built in Birmingham, Redditch, Coventry and the Black Country.

Flagship developments such as our state-of-the art £500,000 social centre at Showell Court in Wolverhampton which opened in January bring the community into the care setting by providing activities for residents as well as creating new friendships with people who live locally, who also make use of the centre’s facilities.

Meanwhile the largest Government Kick-Start funded programme outside of London, Walsall Waterfront, saw homes for key workers, including doctors and nurses from the local Walsall Manor Hospital completed in March. This is a scheme which has brought together the public, private and health sectors, creating a diverse community space.

We have also continued to invest in new homes and regeneration, whilst proactively addressing the Green Agenda.

Work is well underway to transform a commercial area near West Bromwich town centre into a residential quarter as part of the wider generation of Sandwell. The Homes and Communities Agency awarded Eastern Gateway £1 million pounds to begin the work in October.

Also in January of this year, the first homes from Accord Group’s factory LoCaL Homes, which opened in November, rolled off the production line and are currently being built in Darlaston as part of a £10 million development. This development will be completed next year.

Looking forward as new policies are being developed by centralandlocalGovernment,whichwillhaveasignificantimpact on the way we work, we need to have a strong voice andincreasedinfluenceinthewaythesepoliciesareshaped.The Localism Act devolves greater powers to councils and neighbourhoods and will give local communities more control over housing and planning decisions. Therefore, we need to increase our engagement with local stakeholders and improve their understanding of our wider values and breadth of work within our communities.

Showell Court, Wolverhampton.

Ourstate-of-theart,£500,000flagshipsocialcentre.

Thefirsthomesrollofftheproductionline.

The largest Kick-Start funded programme outside of London.

Transforming West Bromwich town centre.

The LoCaL Homes factory, Beechdale.

Walsall Waterfront, Walsall.

Eastern Gateway development, West Bromwich.

Big investments in regeneration have

exciting new projects across the region.created



Opportunity to grow

Neighbourhoods’ form the platform from which we can build on people’s strengths and abilities to create the opportunities

that will enable a community to take responsibility for and contribute to new pathways for shared prosperity and well-being.

Wehavethereforeidentifiedtransformationasthesinglemost important thing in enabling us to shape our own future andcontinuetofulfilourambitionofdeliveringbigandsmallopportunities for our customers.

Aspartofthetransformationjourneywewillcontinuetoinvestin the skills and development of our staff teams so they are fully equipped for the challenges and in particular the opportunities that lie ahead. Over the past year we have successfully implemented a coaching and leadership programme which has resulted in all of our managers qualifying as accredited coaching practitioners. In total we have invested £600,000 in this training and have reshaped our teams so the coaching and mentoring ethos will now seek to grow a supportive yet outcome focused culture, which builds on the capacity and talent of our people. During the next year our aim is to build on this solid foundation to ensure permeation to all levels of the organisation. In particular, we will focus on developing our talented and experienced frontline teams who are so critical in bringing about change at the interface and creating communities in which people want to live.

Already work is underway and in 2011, Ashram launched its pioneering Locality for Real pilot programme in Bordesley Leisure Gardens for the prototyping and test-bedding of a wide range of innovative approaches to micro neighbourhood development. The pilot will be delivered over a three year period to ultimately test what a self-organising neighbourhood approach would look like in practice. The pilot is testing a range of initiatives drawing on its own existing experience of neighbourhood development and also exploring other approaches, models and tools as a way of seeking to address local economic, social, environmental and cultural challenges and bring about change.

In Walsall and as part of the development of the ‘for Real’ brand Caldmoreaccordlauncheditsfirstevertimebankoffering local people a unique way of volunteering in their neighbourhoods.

Called Time for Real, the innovative time bank, which is part funded through Walsall South Area Partnership, support locals people to donate their time to help others in their community. Unlike traditional volunteering, participants ‘earn’ time credits for donating skills such as DIY, gardening and cooking, which they can then ‘cash in’ when they need help.

There are approximately 250 time banks across the UK, although Time for RealisthefirsttoberuninWalsall,servingall four wards in the south of the borough.



Growing opportunityOur values shape the way our people work to deliver our missions of:

The Accord Group makes a difference. Our customers get value-for-money, excellent services, quality, innovation and a sense of belonging. We do this by empowering our talented people and engaging our residents to give an outstanding service, all in all giving a great customer service.

Committed to communities

Putting people first

Making a difference

Excellence through innovation



Our people

W e employ over 4,200 people across a wide range of services and we constantly engage and involve our people to shape

the work of the Group.

Through our internal Staff Voices initiative, we now have more than 50 representatives across the Group who have a consultative role and who contribute to the organisation’s decisions. We have implemented a challenging management programme which has seen over 200 managers participate in job-relevanttrainingandwehaveadedicatedresourcingandtalent team.

We celebrate success internally by hosting our annual event the Great People Awards. Colleagues are nominated by their peers and last year’s event once again saw a record number of nominations. In addition we also host the Resident Awards. These awards recognise residents who have made a difference to their community and who are actively involved in helping to shape the Accord Group’s services.

We create both big and small opportunities for our communities too. An example of this is where we have created upto30jobsforlocalpeopleatourfactoryinWalsall,whichproduces low carbon, timber frame homes. Many of those who areemployedwerevictimsoftherecessionandcouldnotfindwork.

A major focus of the Accord Group’s work is providing training and employment opportunities and we have more than 70 apprentices working for us across the Group.

The Accord Group which achieved Investors in People in 2010 was awarded several accreditations during 2011, including Investors in Excellence, ISO14001- IT accreditation, ISO/IEC20000 – environmental accreditation, and the Customer Contact Association (CCA) accreditation for excellent customer service. In addition, we are also the only housing association in the country has achieved the stringent European Environmental and Audit Scheme (EMAS) accreditation, which was renewed last year and is valid until 2013.

Our EMAS accreditation has seen us undertake small changes, which have played

in reducing our environmental impact.

a big part



A big future

At Accord, we invest in the development of new communities across the Midlands and work to improve the infrastructure

of existing communities to provide good quality facilities and a range of opportunities for residents.

We recognise that our customers are diverse and include a wide range of people with different needs.

Thismeansthatweneedtobeflexibleinourapproachandable to react to the varied needs of the customers we serve.

Our philosophy is to make a difference in the communities in which we operate. We do this by listening to our customers and involving them in all aspects of our work. This helps us to make a real difference to people’s lives.

Therefore, we take our environmental responsibilities seriously. We are aware that many of our decisions affect the environment, both at a local and global level. We feel that it’s important to play our part in taking steps to protect our planet and we achieve this by limiting the negative impact of our business wherever we can.

We build good quality, sustainable homes which are well insulated and provide affordable warmth for our tenants. We have introduced the latest renewable technologies to a number ofschemesandcarryoutarollingprogrammeofmodificationson all properties to ensure that we continually aim for higher levels of environmental performance.

We strive to work with organisations who share our aims and our values; from our commitment to equality, to the importance we place on providing good customer service.

This could mean working with suppliers who source their materials sustainably, with contractors who are committed to responsibleconstructionorwithpartnerswhocancreatejobopportunities in the neighbourhoods in which we work.

It also means seeking out organisations who can provide additional skills and experience, and who are working towards similar objectives. In real terms, partnering could mean working with local authorities, businesses and communities to regenerate an area; provide community facilities or develop schemes to benefit our customers.

For us, partnering means working to ensure that the services and facilities we provide are better targeted, more innovative and more effective. By working collaboratively, we can achieve moreforthebenefitofeveryone.

Sustainability is one of the key areas where the Group leads in the

sector. We are the only housing association in the country who has achieved the stringent European Environmental and Audit Scheme

(EMAS) accreditation.

We have a culture of continuous improvement and focus on

efficiency and value-for-money.

Each year we create a number of jobs and appoint young residents into vacant posts as part of our on-going commitment to creating jobs

in the community.

The Resident Engagement team works with the resident panels across the Group who value the

opportunity to get involved and to be engaged with.

Through Fairness, we recognise the particular need of different groups

and individuals and ensure that these are met.

Our timber frame homes made at our LoCaL Homes factory, not only provide low carbon construction, but offer warm, super insulated

living with up to a

50 per cent reduction in heating bills compared

to a traditionally built brick property.

£130,000

saved by procuring green energy services on a Group-wide basis.

More than

10 new and permanent jobs created at

Ribbon Court extra care scheme.

In November, more than

60 residents from across the Group were

nominated for a Great Resident Award.

From the 2 July, we became a third party reporting centre for hate

crime and have trained

over 30 of our staff to report any concerns.

By ensuring our people play a

in the way we work, helps us make even the smallest difference to all of our customers.

big part



Key success stories in 2011We become one of handful of landlords to be awarded gold in the RSPCA’s Community Animal Welfare Footprints scheme for its work in promoting animal welfare in September.

Greenscape turned over more than £1 million for the first time since it was formed 26 years ago in April.

Jas Bains (Chief Exec of Ashram) was awarded an MBE for services to housing in the region in January’s New Year’s honours list.

Accord Group’s customer contact centre Customer First extended its opening hours in January, making it easier and more accessible for thousands of residents to get in touch with us.

More than 80 members of staff across the Accord Group received training in May to identify the signs of loans sharks operating in their communities.

More than 3,000 people visited our stand to view our timber frame home at the world’s biggest event for sustainable design, construction and the built environment - Ecobuild in London.

Homes for key-workers, including doctors and nurses from the local Walsall Manor Hospital, completed at the Walsall Waterfront in March.

Chapter House received a make-over worth £20,000 by volunteers from the Black Country Constructing Excellence Club (BCCEC).



Mayor of Solihull Councillor Irene Chamberlain visited Bosworth Drive Community Centre to see how it is helping to improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the area.

Residents at Carpenter Place celebrated its 25th anniversary in May and Cherry Tree Court celebrated its 25th in August.

The Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government Jack Dromey MP visited Redditch in February to see how co-operative housing is benefitting local people.

Greenscape won a £190,000 contract to look after the grounds of 125 Mercian Housing Association estates in the West Midlands and Shropshire in December.

Accord Group’s care and support departments secured Investors in Excellence (IIE) re-accreditation in November.

In December 2011, Accord Group hired new Procurement Manager to lead on securing a range of services for the Group that offer value- for-money.

Customer First, our call centre was re-accredited with the Customer Contact Association (CCA) Global Standard, which is the professional body that measures a contact’s centre customer focused approaches.

The Information Systems (IS) team secured a Group-wide accreditation in their recent ISO 20000 IT Quality Audit. After holding the accreditation for the past 12 months for Fry Housing Trust, the renewed accreditation now covers the whole Accord Group. ISO 20000 is the global standard for planning, delivery and management of IT service and support infrastructures.

Key success stories in 2011



bchs launched Private Sector leasing scheme in January in a bid to tackle the shortage of affordable housing in Birmingham and the Black Country.

In January 2012, the first factory homes rolled off the production line and are being built in Darlaston as part of £10 million development.

AddVentures launched and hosted roadshows for local, budding entrepreneurs in Coventry, Sandwell and Walsall throughout September and October.

Melody Hossaini, founder of Inspirengage and former BBC Apprentice star, attended Accord’s AGM in September where she backed AddVentures and the A-Fund.

Accord Group hosted a recruitment day for the LoCaL Homes factory in partnership with Walsall Council in August - more than 170 people attended.

Dementia café scheme goes from strength to strength – with the scheme expanding into Walsall in May. A total of 48 cafés will be held in Sandwell by September.

£35,000 worth of CCTV cameras were installed at Woden Road West estate in a joint initiative with the police and young residents to make the neighbourhood a safer place to live.

Accord officially opened the LoCaL Homes factory in November – making history by becoming the first housing association in the country to open its own timber home hub.

In October, Matrix secured £30 million in Government grants as part of HCA’s affordable homes programme – the fourth largest allocation in the West Midlands.

The flagship Eastern Gateway scheme in West Bromwich was awarded £1 million from HCA in October.

Refurbishment work started at Apna Ghar day centre in August, with £750,000 being spent on upgrades.

Accord Group received £588,000 in funding from the HCA in March to build nine bungalows in Brownhills, Walsall - including two homes especially for residents with disabilities.




We teamed up with the Jericho Foundation and Balsall Heath Forum to help more than 40 people undertake work experience or access training in March.

In partnership with Age Concern we were successful in securing grant funding to purchase specialist IT equipment for people with visual, mental and physical impairments as part of ‘UK Online Week’.

Our Jobs and Skills Coach has delivered ‘Get it Keep it’ workshops along with one-to-one advice sessions for service users. This incorporates advice on how to access employment, signposting to other agencies, practical and personal help with looking for a job and other volunteering opportunities.

In partnership with Health Exchange we have run a programme of activities around; healthy eating activities, exercise sessions, expert patient programmes and awareness sessions on chronic illnesses.

We passed through the first round of the Big Lottery’s Improving Financial Confidence programme.

We have introduced a new telephone system which enables the staff to work in a more efficient and targeted manner to provide best value to the co-operatives with who we work.

Taste for Life Birmingham was launched in June and hosted workshops in September to help older people use new technologies such as mobile phones.

Volunteering at the Accord Group rocketed in July, with 250 people applying to lend a hand. Volunteers included Accord’s own residents.

Students taking part in the Government’s National Citizen Service made-over the garden at the Millennium Forge scheme.

Socialbreakfast.org supported a 300-plus student debate at Joseph Chamberlain College, focusing on issues from nuclear disarmament to global warming.

Food for Fitness workshops were held in Birmingham to improve the health and well-being of people aged over 50.

In November, Taste for Life Walsall scheme celebrated helping more than 350 people in just a year.




We maintained alongside our EMAS accreditation the highest possible excellence standard possible to be attained in the UK for environmental management.

We have extended the range of money and debt advice offered to customers including a new offer from MyHome Finance.

Private domiciliary health care company Direct Health joined the Accord Group in June 2012.

Caldmoreaccord celebrated its 40th anniversary of delivering community based services.

Caldmore Housing Association and Accord Housing Association join together in partnership to become Caldmoreaccord strengthening its offering to customers across the Black Country.




factsAccord

and figures 2011 – 2012



How every £1 of tenants’ rent was spent

£Pence

Services, Care and Support 37

Interest 24

Management costs 13

Day to day repairs 17

Planned repairs 7

Bad debt and voids 2

Compliments and complaints

Amount

Total number of compliments received 449

Total number of complaints received 315

Dealt with at stage one 302

Dealt with at stage two 11

Dealt with at stage three 2

Ombudsman resolution 2

Accord Group housing stock at 31 March, 2012

Stock

General needs 7,937

Supported 1,627

Leasehold 1,235

In development 205

Total 11,004



Total number of repairs 34,569 Total number of emergencies 5,706 Emergencies completed on time 5,662 % emergency completed within target 99% Total number of urgent repairs 11,395 Total number of urgent repairs completed on time 11,208 % urgent completed on time 98% Total number of non- urgent repairs 17,468 Total number of non-urgent completed on time 17,046 % non- urgent completed on time 98% Total number of satisfaction returns 2,363 Number of satisfied returns 1,961 % satisfied returns completed on time 83% Total number of properties requiring a CP12 5,597 Number of properties with a valid CP12 5,596 Total numbers of properties with a CP12 99%

Repairs 2011 - 2012

Number of empty homes at 31 March 2012 94 Percentage of homes let in the year 20.4% Average time to let 14.57 days Average cost of works for re-fitting £995

Empty Homes

Source of new lettings Amount

Referrals 763

Nominations 339

Transfers 101

Direct applications 355

Other 26

Total no. of lettings 1,584

Types of new lettings

Amount

Single adults 833

Older people 515

Two adults (no children) 59

One adult ( with at least one child) 176

Two or more adults (with at least one child) 103

Other 0

Total 1,686



African 8Asian British Bangladeshi 13Asian British Indian 113Asian British Other 10Asian British Pakistani 62Black British African 82Black British Caribbean 110Black British other 8Black other 15Caribbean 0Chinese 2Indian 1Irish 1Mixed race 0Mixed white and black African 0Mixed white and black Caribbean 33Mixed white asian 4Not known 2Oriental 0Other 7Pakistani 0White 1Undisclosed 12White British 1,091White Irish 10White other 17

Accord GroupWork Profile 2012

Accord £78.74 Black Country £84.26 Bromford £81.83 Family HA £73.98 Mercian £78.81 Midland Heart £80.23 * Data taken from RSR submissions 2011

Average weekly rents at 31 March, 2011*

Accord Group account summaries Year ended 31 March, 2012

Year 2010 2011 2012Total £’000 £’000 £’000 (Restated) Income and Expenditure* Income Rents, Service Charges, Support, etc 54,799 61,476 62,585Shared Ownership 1st tranche sale proceeds – 321 701Interest earned 64 102 186Sale of housing and other properties 1,190 1,555 6,448Other income 315 360 400Total income 56,368 63,814 70,320 Expenditure Operating costs 43,811 48,389 50,214Shared Ownership 1st tranche sale costs – 228 583Interest on loans 7,907 10,756 11,498Cost of housing and other properties sold 983 1,581 6,314 Other financing costs – 404 –Taxation 13 16 13Total expenditure 52,714 61,374 68,622Surplus 3,654 2,440 1,698 Balance Sheet Tangible Fixed Assets 570,916 590,602 602,995Other Assets 23,662 33,591 38,767

Total Assets 594,578 624,193 641,762 Financed by Social Housing Grant 239,749 247,210 247,696Loans 265,256 287,597 303,244Accumulated Reserves 75,331 76,348 78,046Creditors 14,242 13,038 12,776

594,578 624,193 641,762



The Accord Groupis made up of seven organisations

Direct HealthPlumptre Court, 7 Poplar Street, Nottingham, NG1 1GPT:01159247032F:01159247035 *Note:-DirectHealthjoinedtheAccordGroup in June 2012

Fry Housing Trust43RowleyVillage,RowleyRegisWest Midlands B65 9AST:01215596406F:01215594632

Moseley and District Churches Housing Association106 Alcester RoadMoseley,BirminghamB138EFT:03001117000F:01214425050

Redditch Co-operative Homes (RCH) Britton HouseBritton Street, Redditch B97 6HDT:01527591170F:03001117001

Accord GroupCentral Services178 Birmingham Road, West BromwichWest Midlands B70 6QGT:03001117000F:03001117001E:[email protected]

Ashram Housing AssociationFairgate House, 205 Kings RoadTyseley, Birmingham B11 2AAT:03001117000F:03001117001

bchsFairgate House, 205 Kings RoadTyseley, Birmingham B11 2AAT:01217643808F:03001117001

Caldmoreaccord Housing Association18 Caldmore GreenCaldmore,WalsallWS13RLT:03001117000F:03001117001

37KingStreet,DarlastonWest Midlands WS10 8DET:03001117000F:03001117001

and small

Annual Report 2012

accordgroup.org.uk

The Accord Group, 178 Birmingham Road, West Bromwich, B70 6QGTel:03001117000Email:[email protected]

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The

Documents

Accord Group Annual Report 2012